Motoring Advice Blog

Charged With Causing Death By Driving Whilst Uninsured?

Imagine the scenario – you’re driving one night with your family. You are a responsible driver who has had a licence for many years without any serious motoring convictions. Your car has a full MOT, you check the tyres regularly and your children’s booster seats are regularly checked for safety and wear and tear.

You are driving within the speed limit, taking care to look out for all potential dangers, exactly as you always do, when all of a sudden out of nowhere a car goes through their red light at a crossing and collides with you.

You stay calm and try to keep your car under control, tell your children everything will be ok. The other vehicle flips and the driver is killed. Tests show that he was heavily under the influence of alcohol and drugs and there are several witnesses who confirm that he was driving dangerously before the collision.

Imagine your surprise, then, when the police arrive and notify you that you were driving without insurance. Your wife immediately gasps at this news and explains that she had forgotten to renew the insurance policy recently. It’s always her job, and she had sent you off to work promising it had been done – she’d actually planned to do it that day and the children had been misbehaving and things had got busy and it had completely slipped her mind. A genuine mistake.

Imagine your horror when the police therefore charge you with causing death by driving whilst uninsured, a serious offence that can be sent to the Crown Court and which can lead to a custodial sentence of up to 2 years being imposed.

A person can be guilty of this charge even where this is absolutely no fault in their own standard of driving. A collision can be entirely the fault of another person, even the deceased.

Defences are available for this offence, the most common being duress of circumstances leading to the decision being made to drive.

If you are being charged with causing death by driving whilst uninsured, it is vital that you seek legal help immediately. Call us now on 01623 600645 for a free initial telephone consultation.